Transmission-gearing.



G. S. MAXWELL. TRANSMISSION GEARING.

APPLICATION 11.31) 001. 27, 1911. 1

V Patnted Sept. 24, 1912.

. employed. at r the fiexlble UNITED STATES PATENT orr es."

monomer: s. MAXWELL. or NEWARK, NEW JERsEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

*rnnnsmi'ssron-ennnme.

Patented Sept. 24, 1912.

'App1.ioation' filed October 27, 1911. Serial No. t357,036.

whomz'tmay ooa pem:

ed certain new and useful Improvements 'lransmissionof which thefol. wlng 1s a spec1- 'nvention relates to improvements in l ion gearing and in particular to a H ien device for use in transmitting dwar -hem Lvehicle wheel to mechanism monnt ed onth yehielebody and arranged om"; tlieiwhel, such for ex p s tax meter's, 's peed' recorders, and 'Of f tlie' many devices heretofore s haft pfwith; gearingeonnectingit to the. vel1icl'e"yvl 1ee1, has I been considered the. best,

, toits simplicity, ease of installa- 'tion on a vehicl'e, and'light weight. However, it has heretofore been considered a ne cessity of "the, asset a flexible shaft to run it'a't a" relativelyIhi-ghspeed, with theidea' 5 that ih t'his way ifiwouldbe subjected to the least amountof'stra'in: If consideredmerely from the standpoint of power transmission this idea" is correct,because with a high speed 'ofrotation of the shaft, a given amount'of power could be transmitted with a small force acting torsionally' on the flexi bl'eshaft- I have found, however, that thesensual methods-of employing a flexible shaft resu lt'in the rapid deterioration ordestruction o'f the shaft, whereby the cost of fre *quently replacing the-parts and the interrupt-ion of service become serious disadvantages. I

I have found that a flexible shaft can be made to transmit the desired amount of power without. being driven at such a rapid speed and yet without being made so'larg'e in diameter as to-lose the advantage of the flexibility of such shaft. By this decreased speed of rotation, the durability of the flexi- -ble shaftis increased to an extent which is more than -proportional to the decrease of speedl In fact, I have found that by my arrangement, I can produce a transmission gearing comprising a flexible shaft and havmg all the advantages of the usual flexible shaft transmission devices without any ofi I its disadvantages,

. Beit known that I, Gnome S. MAXWELL,

va citizen of the United, fl test," residing at Newark, in the county "ot-rlssex' and State T.;5 of Iflew Jersey, have inven .tion.

lricit-y of the ring ing said shaft at a relatively slow rate of speed from the ordinary vehicle 'wheel and even from an angularly adjustable steering wheel, said driving means being of such construction that it may readily be adjusted to various sizes of wheels while driving the desired mechanism at'a fixed rate of speed relative to the distance traveled by the vehicle. Furthermore, the said driving means is of simple and economical construction.

My invention will first be described in its proposed embodiment in connection with the accompanying drawilifgs and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In'the drawings,Figure 1 is a diagrammatic side elevation of somuch of a transmission gearing as is necessary to explain my invention; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view of the same; Fig. 3 isa detail view illustrating -'a modified form of my inven- ?u) Referring to-the drawings, A indicates a vehicle wheel hub, from which the spokes B, radiate, a part only of said s okes being shown. To the spokes is secure a cam device, in. this case formed as a cam-ring, in-

dicatedat C, said ring being eccentric-tothe I crumed on a shaft E. The said lever has oneend widened and provided withrollers (Ld', arranged to run in contact with the cam-ring, C, one of said rollers, (1, being on theinside of' the ring and the other, d, on the outside, whereby, owing to the eccenwith relation to the vehicle wheel, the lever E will be oscillated by the rotation ofthe wheel, and in the construction shown, it will be oscillated once for each revolution of said wheel. The fulcrum end of the lever D is, in the present example, widened out as shown in Fig. 1, and on this widened port-ion is pivotally mounted a'pawl d, and a pawl spring d, which bears against said pawl. To theshaft E is secured a ratchet wheel F arranged to be engagedby the pawl 02 Also to the shaft is fixed a worm G, arranged to mesh with a worm-wheel H, fixed to a flexible shaft 1. In the present exam le the wormwheel is sho wn as provid'edwit a long hub, h,

whichis tubular anclproyided with a longi- EST/AVAILABLE CQp",

tudinal slot as indicated at it. The flexible shaft I has its end provided withthe usual solid portion 2' arranged to enter the tubular hub h of the worm-wheel, said flexible shaft also having a pine" which enters the sloth of the worm-wheel hub. Therefore, when the woiun-wheel H is rotated the flexible shaft I will be rotated, also, because of the pin i engaging the slot 72.. 1 At the same time, the end of the flexible shaft is permitted a certain amount of freedom of move-- ment longitudinally in the tubular hub of the worm-wheel, to compensate for difference in curvature of the flexible shaft.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 Iv have shown the flexible shaft as provided with 'a cam K having an operating surface on one end and arranged to actuatea lever L, which has a roller Z bearingagainst the operating sur-- face of the cam K. The lever L is supposed to represent a part of the mechanism of a taximeter, speed recorder ,or the like device mounted on the vehicle and intended to be operated from the vehicle wheel.

For the purpose of mounting the mechanism, the shaft E and the worm-wheel H may be journaled in a suitable housing or bearings, as indicated in outline at M, Fig. 2, which housing may be mounted on any suitable part of the'vehicle.

The device shown is so arranged that each revolution of the vehicle wheel will cause one complete oscillation of the'lever D, and thisin turn will move the ratchet wheel F ,one tooth. By suitably proportioning the worm G and the worm-wheel H,'the flexible shaft, I, may have the desired number of revolutions relative to one revolution of the wheel. From my experience, I have found that when the flexible shaft is given one or two revolutions for each mile-of travel of the vehicle wheel, the shaft may be made strong enough to transmit all the power usually required for operating taximeters,

speed-recorders and the like, and yet still be flexible enough for the desired'purposes, and, owing to its reduced speed of rotation -w1ll be practically indestructible in ordinary use.

In Fig. 3, I have shown a modification of 'my invention wherein the lever is shorten d to Such an extent that it in fact resembles a mere disk, as indicated at D. Of course.

the principle involved is identical with that of the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2. but by the short lever as shown, the apparatus may be installed in places where the long lever of Fig. 1 would be inapplicable.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a transmission gearing, the combination, with a vehicle wheel,.a cam ring secured. to said wheel, and a lever fulcrumed' at one end and provided at the other end with means for engaging the inside and the outside respectively of the cam ring, of a flexible shaft, means actuated by said lever motion, and a connection betweensaid means and the flexible shaft.-

2. In a transmission gearing, the combi .nation,-with a flexible shaft, and a rotatable cam device, of a lever arranged to be oscillated by the cam device, a pawl carried by said lever, a ratchet wheel arranged to be moved by the pawl, and reducing gearing driven by 'the'ratchet wheel'and arranged to rotate the" flexible shaft.

8. In a transmission gearing, the combination, with a flexible shaft, and a rotatable cam device, of a lever arranged to he oscillated by the cam device, a pawl carried by said. lever, a ratchet wheel engaged by the pawl, a worm driven by the ratchet Wheel, and a worm-wheel in mesh with the worm and arranged to drivethe flexible shaft.

4. In a transmission gearing, the combi nation, with a flexible shafhwi cam-ring arranged to be secured to a vehicle wheel, and a lever provided with means for engaging the ring at each side thereof, of a pawl carried by said lever, ,a ratchet-wheel engaged by the pawl, a worm driven by the ratchet-wheel, and a worm-wheel fixed to the flexible shaft and engaging with the worm.

, 5. In a transmission gearing, the combination, with a vehicle wheel, .a cam-ring secured to said wheel, a-lei'cr fulcrmnrd at one end and provided at the other end with rollers arranged one inside and the other with, a spring-pressed pawl carried by the lever, a shaft. :1 ratchet-wheel fixed thereon and engaged by the pawha worm fixed. on said shaft, a Wor1nwhecl migaging said worm, and a flexible shaft to which mid worm-wheel is connected.

In witness whereof I liavehcrcimh n iiixed ,my hand this 25th day of {Livia-r. l9;

GEORGE S. MA XWE'LLL.

Witnesses M. C. IVIASSIE,

J. H. Sroonns.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G.

for converting oscillatory motion into rotary outside the cam-ring and in contact thorc- 

